The Special Effects Team

One of the foremost practitioners of the art of motion picture
special effects, Academy Award-winner, Phil Tippett achieved new
heights with his work as "Dinosaur Supervisor" on Steven
Spielberg's groundbreaking JURASSIC PARK. Long recognized for
his extraordinary design and execution of some of the most
memorable creatures in film history, Tippett collaborated on
JURASSIC PARK for two years; primarily responsible for two of the
film's more noteworthy creations -- the awe-inspiring
Tyrannosaurus Rex and the terrifying Velociraptors -- Tippett's
work on this film caps nearly two decades of outstanding
accomplishments in special visual effects. It also represents
the culmination of his lifelong fascination with dinosaurs and
paleontology.

First inspired by such legendary fantasies as KING KONG and such
Ray Harryhausen spectacles as THE SEVENTH VOYAGE OF SINBAD,
Tippett determined at an early age to follow in Harryhausen's
footsteps. A self taught filmmaker by the age of 13, he became a
professional animator of television commercials by the time he
was 17. Setting aside his career to attend the University of
California at Irvine, Tippett became acquainted with a group of
nascent visual effects artists such as Jon Berg and Dennis Muren
(who most recently collaborated with Tippett on JURASSIC PARK).
It was Muren, in fact, who recommended Tippett to the production
team on George Lucas' STAR WARS, the 1978 film that arguably
launched a whole new generation of state-of-the-art, effects-
oriented movies.

Having animated the miniature chess match and created
miscellaneous space denizens for STAR WARS, Tippett next worked
on its sequel, THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, employing his skills in
stop-motion animation to create the sinister, dinosaur like
machines knows as "Imperial Walkers" and the hybrid animals know
as "Tauntauns." By 1983, Tippett was head of the Lucasfilm
"creature shop," designing, developing and constructing a wide
variety of aliens for RETURN OF THE JEDI, including the monstrous
"Jabba the Hut." For his work on this final chapter of the STAR
WARS trilogy, Tippett was awarded the Oscar for Best Visual
Effects, having been nominated the previous year for his creation
of "Vermathrax Perjorative," the mythological winged serpent in
the highly acclaimed medieval adventure DRAGONSLAYER.

In 1984, Tippett originated his own project, an experimental
short film entitled "Prehistoric Beast." Shot entirely in his
garage, the 10-minute action drama creates life in the late
Cretaceous Epoch, some 65 - 70 million years ago. Nearly two
years in the making, "Prehistoric Beast," is entirely populated
by prehistoric creatures and represented Tippett's first foray
into the realm of cinematic dinosaurs.

After opening Tippett Studio in Berkeley, California, which
employs as many as 75 artists and technicians, Tippett further
developed his stop-motion animation techniques with the CBS
documentary "Dinosaur!" (1985), which won him an Emmy for
Special Effects. He won another Emmy in 1984 for his work on
"Ewoks: The Battle for Endor," a project that reunited him with
Lucasfilm and also worked on its successful sequel, "Ewoks:
Caravan of Courage," which was made the following year. Other
Lucasfilm projects to which he contributed include HOWARD THE
DUCK (1986) and WILLOW (1988), which earned him his third Academy
Award nomination.

Tippett Studio worked on animated sequences for GOLDEN CHILD
(1987) and GHOSTBUSTERS II (1989). A key contributor to the
effects in Paul Verhoeven's futuristic drama ROBOCOP (1987).
Tippett also supervised the special effects on its two sequels
ROBOCOP 2 (1990) and for ROBOCOP 3 (1991). In (1992-93), Tippett
developed and created a character, "The Garthok," for the comedy
CONEHEADS. The studio also worked developing the main character
and creating CG animatics for several key sequences on the
Universal picture, DRAGONHEART.

Currently Tippett Studio is collaborating on a Martha Coolidge
picture entitled THREE WISHES. The studio is involved in special
effects sequences of digitally generated fireworks and creature
character development working in both stop-motion and computer
animation. In 1995-96 a future project to be embarked upon
reunites Tippett with Paul Verhoeven on a to be announced
project.

Alec Gillis was born in 1959 in Phoenix, Arizona, and a short
time later moved to Orange County, California. By age ten, he
was an avid fan of fantasy and science fiction movies.
Influenced by films such as PLANET OF THE APES, KING KONG, and
JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, Alec began making his own amateur
movies, and by age thirteen had decided that creating creatures
for Hollywood was to be his career.

Having spent much of his teen years experimenting and tinkering
in his mother's garage, Alec's first professional job was on
Roger Corman's low budget space-epic, BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS
(1980). There he worked with many other talented industry
newcomers, most notably director James Cameron (ALIENS, THE
ABYSS), and producer Gale Anne Hurd (ALIENS, THE ABYSS, TREMORS).
The next eight years were spent first attending U.C.L.A.'s film
school, then working for some of the industry's top names in
make-up effects, most notably Stan Winston (ALIENS, LEVIATHAN,
ALIEN NATION).

As one of Winston's closest associates, Alec has the opportunity
to hone his skills as a creature designer, sculptor, and
supervisor. It was during his years with Winston that Alec met
his future business partner, Tom Woodruff, Jr. In 1988, with
their mentor's blessings, Alec and Tom left Stan Winston Studio
and formed Amalgamated Dynamics, Incorporated. Dedicated to the
high standards of quality they helped set on films like ALIENS,
ALIEN NATION, and TERMINATOR, Alec and Tom have most recently
shown their expertise on Gale Anne Hurd's TREMORS (Universal
1990), and the upcoming ALIEN 3 (20th Century Fox).

In addition to managing a successful Make-up and Creature effects
studio, Gillis and Woodruff actively develop original scripts,
both individually and as a team. The duo strive to incorporate
their story and directing skills into their creature effects
work, whether it is by contributing script ideas (as in TREMORS
and ALIEN 3), or by second unit directing (LEVIATHAN).

To date, the culmination of Gillis and Woodruff's talents as
writers-directors is the screenplay and teaser reel of THE DEMON
WITH THREE TALES co-produced, co-written and co-directed by Alec
and Tom, the short film was shot on a shoestring budget and
demonstrates not only the freshness and originality of the
script, but also the team's ability to design and direct visually
stylish projects on a modest budget.

Born in Williamsport, Pennsylvania in 1959, much of Tom's early
interest in movies and monsters was a result of late-night
broadcasts of the now-classic Universal monster movies and the
stop-motion effects of Ray Harryhausen. Finally seeing one of
the PLANET OF THE APES films in a theatre focused his attention
on the craft of make-up, while getting his hands on his father's
8mm home movie camera at 13 years old simultaneously encouraged
his interest in filmmaking.

While living so far from Hollywood, Tom's only professional
contact was through the mail, writing letters to the artists
whose works he admired most, like John Chambers, who created THE
PLANET OF THE APES make-ups. Early in high school, he began to
crank out his own Super 8 movies, using friends as cast members
and saving money for his own camera equipment. Later, in
college, Tom was allowed to adapt an independent studies
curriculum in Theatre to focus on filmmaking and writing and
continued to work on his own make-up creations and filmwork,
story ideas, and screenplays.

Tom finally made his move to Los Angeles in 1982. Six months of
making the rounds of make-up effects houses finally led to his
first paying job, working for a company on a 3-D science fiction
film. It was soon followed by working for Tom Burman on BUCKAROO
BANZAI and STAR TREK 3. That work, as well as an association
with friends already involved, led to Tom's joining Stan
Winston's team on TERMINATOR. That was the beginning of a five-
year period which saw Tom become a key member of the crew under
Winston, and had the opportunity to work on such features as
ALIENS and TV shows as AMAZING STORIES, and TALES FROM THE CRYPT.

During this time, Tom began wearing the complicated make-up and
costumes of the creatures designed at the studio. His physical
build and tolerance as well as his ability to perform as an actor
led to his portraying the title characters in such movies as
ALIEN 3, MONSTER SQUAD, PUMPKINHEAD, and LEVIATHAN, as well as
TV's AMAZING STORIES.

During these years, Tom continued to write, ultimately teaming up
with another of Stan's designer-technicians, Alec Gillis, to co-
produce, write, and direct THE DEMON WITH THREE TALES, a
promotional piece designed to sell a feature anthology project.
As interest was beginning to generate on the DEMON project,
Winston was in a position where letting two of his main crew
members go would not interfere with his plans. Tom and Alec
formed AMALGAMATED DYNAMICS, Inc., primarily as an imposing-
sounding source from which to pursue their own make-up and
effects projects, but with the intent to use the company as an
umbrella under which their own film productions can eventually
grow.